Anyone else running Victron kit in a camper when they've got a garden office setup at home?

Swapped my garden office SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 into the van for a weekend trip by mistake — grabbed the wrong bag — and honestly the thing performed better than expected on 200W of Renogy flexi panels bungee'd to the roof like a nervous breakdown in hardware form.

Back home I'm running a proper 400W array into a Victron MultiPlus-II with two Fogstar Drift 100Ah lifepos, so I know the kit well. The van setup was basically chaos by comparison: one panel slightly shaded, one at a dodgy angle, 3m of cable I found under a seat.

Still pulled 47Ah into a tired 100Ah AGM by 2pm on a cloudy October day near Ludlow. Either Victron's MPPT algorithm is genuinely witchcraft or my garden office panels are carrying trauma from powering my laptop 12 hours a day.

Has anyone done a proper side-by-side of Victron vs Renogy's own MPPT controllers in real van conditions, or is it just confirmation bias from those of us who've already bought the blue stuff?

@SolarGaz ha, classic bag mix-up 😄

Running Victron across multiple setups here — cabin, static van, even dabbling with EV charging. The kit genuinely doesn't care what it's bolted into, which is half the appeal tbh.

The 100/30 is a solid all-rounder. I've got a 150/35 in the cabin and honestly the smaller one holds its own fine on 200W flex panels — might even track better in low light than you'd expect given the adaptive algorithm.

Worth just leaving it in the van if it's working well. Grab a second unit for the office — Fogstar sometimes bundle deals on Victron kit and it's not like they depreciate much if you change your mind later.

Great shout @SolarGaz — the 100/30 is surprisingly capable for a weekend van setup, especially paired with flex panels. The adaptive charging algorithms don't care whether it's bolted to a garden office wall or rattling down the A303!

I've got a similar crossover situation — SmartSolar 75/15 lives in the camper but I've temporarily borrowed it for the office more than once when my main unit's been playing up. The beauty of Victron is everything talks to everything via Bluetooth regardless of which setup it's in.

One thing worth checking if you're swapping units between setups — make sure your battery profile is correct when you move it. Easy to forget it was configured for lithium in the office and you've got AGM in the van or vice versa. Burnt my fingers on that one last summer 🙈

Reply by @YorkshireSolar:

@SolarGaz Ha, the accidental field test! Funny how those mix-ups sometimes teach you something useful.

The 100/30 is a cracking little unit — I've got one permanently in the van and another on my workshop at home. What I love about running Victron across both setups is the VictronConnect app gives you that familiar interface wherever you are. Takes the faff out of troubleshooting when you're parked up in a field somewhere in the Dales.

One thing worth noting with flex panels on a van roof — keep an eye on your temperature compensation settings. They can run hotter than rigid panels and it does affect charge behaviour noticeably in summer. The SmartSolar handles it well but it's worth dialling in properly rather than leaving it on defaults.

What battery are you running it into? AGM or lithium?

@SolarGaz that's actually a decent accidental experiment! The 100/30 handles van life pretty well given it's technically overkill for a weekend warrior setup — though I'd argue that's no bad thing with flex panels, since you're rarely pulling rated wattage off them anyway due to the heat buildup.

The real win with Victron across multiple installs is the VictronConnect app keeping everything familiar regardless of which setup you're looking at. I've got an MPPT 75/15 in my van and a 100/50 in the garden office, and being able to flick between them on the same interface is genuinely useful.

Did you notice any difference in charging behaviour compared to your usual van controller? Curious whether the algorithm adapted quickly to the Renogy panels or took a cycle or two to settle. 🤔

@SolarGaz Ha, I've done similar — grabbed my office MPPT bag thinking it was the van kit, absolute panic until I realised it'd actually work fine!

Interesting you found it performed better though. I wonder if the flex panels on a curved roof were actually tracking more usable angles throughout the day compared to your fixed setup at home? The 100/30 wouldn't care either way obviously, but I reckon the geometry of a moving/parked vehicle changes things more than people expect.

Do you use the VictronConnect app to compare the yield data between locations? I've found it genuinely useful for spotting why the same kit behaves differently across my home setup versus the van. Worth pulling the history logs when you're back if you haven't already — would be curious what the daily harvest difference actually looks like.

@SolarGaz I've actually got the opposite situation — deliberately running the same SmartSolar 100/20 across both my camper and garden office depending on the season. Summer the office barely needs it so I'll pull it out for a few weekends. The Victron kit genuinely doesn't care whether it's on a static roof or a van moving around the country, which speaks to the build quality really. Only thing I'd watch with the 100/30 specifically is keeping an eye on your absorption settings if you're swapping between battery banks with different specs — easy to forget you've tweaked something for one setup and then scratch your head wondering why the other isn't behaving properly! VictronConnect makes it straightforward enough to save profiles though.